Suspect's dad once tried for slayings

Friday

Jan 18, 2013 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - A man once accused of murder expressed anger and sadness Thursday over the death of his son, who shot and killed a Galt police officer Tuesday before turning the gun on himself, authorities said.

Jason Anderson

STOCKTON - A man once accused of murder expressed anger and sadness Thursday over the death of his son, who shot and killed a Galt police officer Tuesday before turning the gun on himself, authorities said.

Humphrey Kenneth Gascon Sr., 61, spoke briefly outside his mother's residence at a low-income independent living center for senior citizens in Stockton. Gascon Sr. refused to answer questions about his son, 30-year-old Humphrey Kenneth Gascon Jr., saying he would speak to the media after making his son's final arrangements.

"This is my baby. This is my only son," said Gascon Sr., who was wearing a red bandanna under a backward black baseball cap, a flannel jacket and fingerless gloves made from white socks. "I've got to see my son's body and get him buried. I'm a grieving father. I'll make a statement when I'm ready."

Authorities said Gascon Jr. shot Galt police Officer Kevin Tonn, 35, and fired at another officer before using the same handgun to take his own life Tuesday in Galt. Neither officer fired a shot, authorities said.

Gascon Sr., who was tried on suspicion of murder in Stockton in 1974, said he doesn't believe his son committed suicide. He alluded to one of at least three witnesses who told reporters police shot Gascon Jr. as he fled on foot and noted that authorities didn't remove his son's body from the scene until 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, 18 hours after the shooting.

"Why do you think that is?" Gascon Sr. asked. "It's so they could clean up their mess."

The Record's archives show that Gascon Sr. was arrested for a string of robberies in Stockton in 1969 and charged with homicide in 1973, although the murder charges were eventually dismissed because the District Attorney's Office would not identify a key witness.

Police believed Gascon Sr. killed Roquel and Bonita Navales, both 24, in October 1972. Authorities said Gascon Sr. killed Roquel Navales because Navales sold bad heroin to Gascon's brother and that he killed Bonita Navales because she knew Gascon was with her husband the night of the murders.

Bonita Navales was found in her bedroom, brutally beaten with two bullets in the back of her head. Her body was discovered by the couple's 3- and 6-year-old sons. Roquel Navales was found in his car 10 blocks away from the family's home. He also was shot twice in the head.

Gascon Sr. reportedly confessed to the killings, but he later claimed he was under the influence of LSD when he confessed. His first trial resulted in a hung jury, and charges were later dropped after prosecutors refused to name an informant who connected Gascon to the murders.

"The law enforcement agencies gave their word to the informant, and if we identified him, it is very unlikely that we would ever receive any information again from informers who might then be called to testify in court," Stephen G. Demetras, then a deputy district attorney, told The Record in 1975.

Gascon Sr. spent nearly two years in jail before being released. Little else is known about Gascon Sr. except that he fathered a child, Gascon Jr., who was born Sept. 17, 1982.

Since 2004, Gascon Jr. has had addresses in Sparks, Nev.; Sacramento; Galt; and Stockton, according to documents obtained by The Record. He was caught driving under the influence in Nevada and was arrested in San Joaquin County in 2001 on suspicion of carrying a deadly weapon - a billy club - but he had no history of violent crime, authorities said.

Investigators found items in Gascon Jr.'s home that may link him to a Norteņo street gang, but he was not a documented gang member, said Lt. Jim Uptegrove, a spokesman for the Galt Police Department.

Tonn approached Gascon Jr. about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday because he matched the description of a reported burglar. There was a physical struggle, and Tonn was shot, leaving family, friends and a close-knit community to wonder why.

"That's the big question," Uptegrove said. "(Gascon Jr.) had relatively little police contact and no violent history that we're aware of, so we're not sure why he reacted the way he did. It would be nice to know, but I'm not sure we ever will."